Many experts recommend cooking with olive oil for its health benefits, but a new study suggests that it may also be an effective pain-reliever. For decades, scientists have known that bitter medicine is the best medicine. Now a study from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) finds that newly pressed extra-virgin olive oil contains oleocanthal, a chemical compound that induces a strong stinging sensation in the throat, just like the popular painkiller ibuprofen.

Based on these two products’ similarly irritating tastes, researchers tested whether oleocanthal mimics the pain-fighting properties of ibuprofen. The compound was found to indeed act as a natural anti-inflammatory in a way that’s “strikingly similar” to a dose of Advil. The findings also raise the possibility that long-term consumption of extra-virgin olive oil – as little as 50 grams a day, or about 10% of the ibuprofen dosage recommended for pain relief – might help reduce the risk of certain cancers or blood disorders. Muscle & Fitness hers Magazine, Sept / Oct 2009